Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> Anthony Towns wrote:
> > Where I come from, old hardware is unreliable hardware.
>
> This would really only apply to disks, which have moving parts and small
> tolerances. When was the last time you had a motherboard, or CPU, or
> network card, or a video card die because it was "too old"? This stuff
> isn't exactly perishable. It lasts long beyond its obsolescence in most
> cases.
About a year ago a venerable GeForce 256 of mine had a D/A failure
causing bad video output. I neglected to recycle it and left it on
the workbench. About six months ago a newer video card had the fan on
it die. I was able to salvage the fan from the first and fix the
second with it. Just two weeks ago another newer video card fan
died. Wish I had a source for those thin pci card fans...
Two cases of moving part death with a fan. One case of silicon death
which was also probably a moving part if you count electromigration as
the most likely cause of death there.
It is not so much a question of old hardware as it is a question of
being able to easily replace the hardware if there is a problem with
it. I can opportunistically make use of older hardware. But I can
reliably buy something new for when I need it to work.
Bob